Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed
bin Talal praised Vikram Pandit for his handling of the
financial crisis while chief executive officer at Citigroup
Inc., saying he helped position the bank for further growth.

“Many companies like HSBC, Barclays and Standard Chartered
shrank and went back to their roots,” Alwaleed, the largest
individual investor in Citigroup, said today at a conference in
Dubai. “Citigroup never blinked on that. It’s the only global
bank at the moment and really the potential is there,” 57-year-old Alwaleed said, adding that Pandit did a “good” job as CEO.

Citigroup, the third-largest U.S. bank, said Oct. 16 that
Michael Corbat, 52, was picked to lead the New York-based
company after Pandit’s resignation. The former CEO wasn’t a good
fit because of his lack of experience in more traditional
banking, according to Sheila Bair, who clashed with him when she
was chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Pandit oversaw the recovery of a bank that was saddled with
losses and distressed assets accumulated before he became CEO,
and in May 2008 he announced plans for about $400 billion of
divestments within three years. As the credit crunch turned into
a full-blown crisis Citigroup began accepting federal help. The
dividend was cut to 1 cent, and Pandit reduced his own salary to
$1, vowing to keep it there until the bank became profitable.

Citigroup ‘Weakness’

Citigroup’s “weakness” under Pandit was related to
dealing with regulators, Alwaleed said today. The Saudi prince
said policies under Corbat would continue, citing a company
conference call.

Alwaleed, whose 95 percent stake in Saudi investment
company Kingdom Holding Co. makes up more than half of his
fortune, told German newspaper Handelsblatt in May that he
doesn’t plan to expand investment in banks beyond Citigroup.

Global banks including HSBC Holdings Plc and Barclays Bank
Plc are grappling with a European debt crisis now in its fourth
year and uncertainty as the U.S. faces a fiscal cliff in early
2013, when automatic tax increases and budget cuts are set to
siphon billions of dollars of purchasing power from the economy.

Citigroup directors ousted Pandit after concluding his
mismanagement of operations caused setbacks with regulators and
cost credibility with investors, a person with knowledge of the
discussions said last week. His departure came just a day after
third-quarter results beat analysts’ estimates.

Citigroup’s $2.9 billion writedown on the Smith Barney
brokerage unit and a two-level cut of its credit rating by
Moody’s Investors Service contributed to Pandit’s replacement, a
person with knowledge of the discussions said last week.

Net Income

Third-quarter net income was $468 million, or 15 cents a
share, from $3.77 billion, or $1.23, a year earlier. Including
one-time items, analysts estimated a loss of $777 million.

Alwaleed’s estimated net worth is $23.1 billion, according
to data compiled by Bloomberg. That makes him the 18th richest
person in the world, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows. His
personal possessions include palaces, private jets, jewelry and
a super yacht. Notable gifts include a donation of $20 million
to Harvard University and $17 million to the United Nations.

The billionaire also said today he’s sticking with his
investment in Apple Inc. Alwaleed and his investment company in
December agreed to buy a $300 million stake in microblogging
service Twitter Inc. The Saudi prince also owns an 80 percent
stake in Rotana Group, which produces television across the
Middle East and had estimated revenue of $1.2 billion in 2011.

Citigroup rose 1.5 percent to $37.71 at 10:13 a.m. in New
York. While the stock has gained 43 percent this year, it
slumped in three of four years since Pandit was publicly named
as CEO in December 2007, when losses tied to the brewing crisis
drove out predecessor, Charles O. “Chuck” Prince.

Pandit produced “every good idea that we had” to prevent
Citigroup’s collapse during the financial crisis, former
Chairman Richard Parsons told Bloomberg News in a weekend
interview.